Dr. John Wittner made a name for himself in the late 80’s thanks to his ability to modify the hell out of MG’s – his bikes won consecutive US Endurance Championships, among other racers. Due to his success, the Guzzi factory asked him to come to Italy and help develop a superbike unlike anything the Italian firm had produced before. …
2017 Motus MST
So many things need to go right to succeed in the motorcycling world. Motus Motorcycles is an example of the truth that simply having a good idea is not enough. Motus was a Birmingham, Alabama, outfit that produced the unique MST and MSTR from 2016 to 2018. The (arguably) good idea that Motus had was putting a powerful and snarling …
DENALI Show Bike – 2019 BMW R1250GS
Packed with tons of extras from Denali Electronics and Twisted Throttle, this GS has barely been ridden as the odometer shows just 133 miles!
Picture Intermission – Cycles 128
Created by Rob Cerundolo, the Cycles Classic Cafe and Museum is located at Cycles 128 in Beverly, Massachusetts. It’s a wonderful (and free) museum where you can check out a varied collection of motorcycles – and it happens to be a short drive away from where I grew up. So the last time I went home to check in on …
Guess That Bike – Fancy Knob Edition
Here’s an oddball one for you – can you identify what bike this knob is from?
1970 Velorex “Oskar” 350
Originally designed by the Stránský brothers of Czechoslovakia in 1942, the Oskar (“car on axle” in Czech) was inspired by what Morgan was creating over in England.
2005 BMW R1200ST
The BMW R1200ST was the short-lived successor to the R1100RS/R1150RS. It’s a very impressive sport-touring machine but it was an absolute commercial failure in the US. I’d pin that on two factors: first, this bike overlapped too much with the RT and the GS. Second (and more importantly)…it’s not very good looking. Just 554 were sold in the United States …
Video Intermission – Dakar 2025
The Dakar has started! Over the last couple of years, the Dakar organization has done a better job of providing coverage (it used to be pretty dreadful) and now each day we get extended highlights from the different stages. It still isn’t enough for my liking, but I’m not asking for a refund seeing as it’s free. They won’t let …
1971 HPE Muskin El Tigre MX
Post Listing Update: This El Tigre did not get any action at the opening bid of $2,500. I had never heard of HPE Muskin until I saw this ad, but it turns out I’ve ridden one of their bikes. HPE Muskin was a California-based company that specialized in making swimming pools. But ─ because why not? ─ they also manufactured …
1985 Garelli Monza GT
Garelli is not a well-known marque in the world of motorcycling, but this moped was released while they were in the middle of an impressive run of 6 consecutive 125cc 2-stroke World Championships from 1982 to 1987.
1973 Triumph X75 Hurricane
Post Listing Update: This Hurricane did not meet reserve despite 25 bids up to $37,100. Behold: a unicorn. Less than 1,200 of these were ever made. Designed specifically for the American market but inherently unable to succeed there, this bike is, in a way, an encapsulation of the weird and tumultuous period of British motorcycling history in which it was …
2018 Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental
Post Listing Update: This Yamaha did not meet reserve despite 8 bids up to $3,150. I’ve mentioned before that I am a sucker for a stupidly big touring bike. So, it goes without saying that the Yamaha XV1900 Star Venture ─ with an overall length of just under 9 feet and a wet weight of 963 lbs. ─ would be …
1984 Moto Guzzi California II
The California is easily one of Moto Guzzi’s best-known and best-loved models. It was born of a collaboration with the Los Angeles Police Department back in 1969, and built around Moto Guzzi’s equally iconic V7 roadster. The bike was a hit and found itself added to the fleets of a number of other police departments. But it wasn’t too long …
1969 BSA Rocket 3
If you’re thinking this bike looks a little like a Triumph Trident of the same era, that’s because they were basically the same machine; Triumph and BSA were, at the time, basically the same company.
1983 Yamaha Virago 750 Midnight Special
Post Listing Update: This Virago did not meet reserve with 16 bids up to $2,425 on eBay. On the surface, there’s not much that’s special about a Yamaha Virago. But perhaps that’s part of what makes it special. The Virago was an everyman metric cruiser that was offered in pretty much every engine size imaginable over the course of its …